In the prior art, it is common for hunters to occupy shooting houses during hunting season. Generally, the houses are wooden, have one or more windows, and are sparsely furnished, if furnished at all. In cases where the houses are empty, noises made by the hunter in the house reverberate greatly and can be an impediment to successful hunting.
One particular noise problem occurs when a hunter lays his/her rifle on the windowsill of the window in the shooting house. If the hunter is not careful or is inexperienced, the gun forearm will bump against the windowsill and generate an obtrusive noise. In instances where the shooting house is bare inside, the noise reverberates in the house, and can distract game in the vicinity.
As such, a need exists to reduce noise during hunting, particularly when in the confines of an empty shooting house.
The prior art has proposed different solutions in connection with these types of problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,185 Walker III discloses a gun rest made of sand bags designed to rest on a window jamb.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,435 to Peltier discloses a wall or window mounted gun support, including a cushioning material.
The problem with both of these devices is that they are cumbersome. Further, while Peltier may disclose a device having a cushioning material, Peltier provides other materials of construction that can generate noise. For example, the hunter could bump into the Peltier apparatus and generate noise, even though the gun forearm may not generate any noise.
Thus, there is still a need for improved devices for muffling sound in shooting houses. The present invention solves this need by providing a gun forearm cushion that easily slides over the gun barrel, is lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture, and does not provide another noise generating surface as in the Peltier apparatus.